Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The following is entry #3 from the new devotional book for pastors called Shepherds Balm by Richard Earl available from kalosbooks.com in mid August 2010.It has been said that a good teacher will make thecomplex seem simple. This is the task of the pastorwhen he is in teaching mode. Making the Word and ways ofGod understandable is one of the joys of ministry. CWSlemming describes that process here.

Having reached the mountaintop the sheep arehot and thirsty. It may be that there is water inabundance gushing from a rock, or bounding overrocks and making its way swiftly down the side of amountain: but this would not meet the need of thesheep, they could perish from thirst while water isabundant because they cannot drink from fastrunning water. It becomes necessary for theShepherd to find a hollowed rock or something thatwill hold water and then he will bail it from the richrunning stream into the receptacle or, if it be gushingfrom a rock with his staff he will scratch a channel inthe earth from the water for a little distance and,following the earth the water will trickle along thechannel, fill up the hollow, and so he has made a poolof still waters. From this, and others that he willmake, the sheep drink.

Christ’s love is like torrential waters. His grace islike a swelling tide. Who can approach the height anddepth, length and breadth of the love of God? Itpasses understanding; it is beyond ourcomprehension, but from it comes that life-givingstream from which you and I find refreshment.

God’s Word, too, is like a great torrent. The depthsof its mysteries will never be fathomed, the height ofits glory never attained, the vastness of its wondersnever discovered. It is a mine never to be exhausted,a spring never to run dry. It is the unsearchableriches of his grace but, while it remains beyond allhuman comprehension, we thank God for the stillwaters of that word to which we have been led andof which we have partaken, and we shall anticipatethe day when we shall be able to eat of the hiddenmanna and drink of the fountainhead.— CW Slemming, Echoes from the Hills of Bethlehem,pp.39-40

God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You havebedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quietpools to drink from.— Psalm 23:1-2 (The Message)